needy

Meanings

1. 1
   adj

   Very poor and lacking the things needed to live.

   The charity collects food and clothes for needy families.

2. 2
   adj

   Wanting too much attention, love, or reassurance from others.

   He became so needy that his friends found him exhausting.

3. 3
   noun

   Poor people considered as a group.

   The organization works to help the needy.

From Middle English nedy, nedi (“necessitous”), from Old English nēdiġ, *nīediġ ("of need, obligated, compelled"; found in the derivative nīediġnes (“obligation”)), from Proto-Germanic *naudigaz (“of need, forced, compelled”), equivalent to need + -y. Cognate with Scots nedy, neidy (“needy, necessitous, impoverished”), Saterland Frisian niedich (“miserable, poor, wretched, needy”), Saterland Frisian nöödich (“necessary, needful”), West Frisian nedich (“needful, needed”), Dutch nodig (“necessary”), Middle Low German nōdich (“necessary, urgent, by requirement”), German nötig (“necessary, needful…

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